Keg and keg fitting for dispensing liquids under pressure

ABSTRACT

A keg for dispensing beer or other liquids under pressure is provided with a neckless spear arrangement. The spear comprises a body intended to be welded permanently to the keg with all parts of the spear assembled through that body. When so assembled escape is prevented so that in the event of interference by any unqualified person there is no risk of the spear being ejected as a missile.

This invention relates to kegs used in the pressurised dispensation ofbeer and other liquids.

Conventionally a keg has a neck, that is to say a tubular extensionoften from one end face of a generally cylindrical keg body, and a spearwhich is assembled into that neck. The neck may carry a femalescrew-thread and the spear have a complementary male thread, oralternatively the spear may be held in the neck by a circlip (RTM). Thespear includes a tube which extends inside the keg generally from theneck to a point close to the opposite end face of the keg.

When liquid is dispensed, two valves in the spear open, one to admit thepressurising gas and the other to allow discharge of the liquid. Whenthe keg is to be filled, it is usually inverted and the same valves maybe opened to different extents in this case to allow liquid to beadmitted through one of the valves and gas to be discharged through theother of the valves.

The problem in the well known and conventional arrangements is that ifany attempt is made to remove the spear whilst the keg is pressurised,it may end up being blown out when it is a potentially dangerousmissile.

The object of the present invention is primarily to avoid the mentioneddanger and secondarily to provide for rapid filling of a keg so that in,for example a brewery filling plant, a smaller number of fillingstations may be needed for unit output, whilst at the same time beingcompatible with conventional filling apparatus.

According to the invention considered broadly, a keg for storing anddispensing pressurised liquid comprises a spear permanently fixed in thewall of the keg without a surrounding neck.

This broadest aspect of the invention provides the increase in storagecapacity or reduction in space because of the absence of neck andbecause the spear is permanently fixed it cannot form a missile becauseit cannot be detached. However, the spear requires moving parts in orderto be shifted from a storage mode to a dispensing mode or a filling modeand the provision of such parts in a manner in which they cannot form amissile if interfered with is a subject of a further part of thisinvention.

According to this further part of the invention a spear primarily for aneckless keg comprises a body apt to be permanently secured to the keg,an axial flow passage formed in a spear tube, a poppet valve controllingflow through the tube, a radially outwardly located flow passage in ordefined by said body, a second valve for controlling flow through saidoutwardly located passage, and means for preventing movement of saidtube in the direction outwards of the keg when the body is so secured.

The spear (using this term for the complete assembly) or the body of thespear may be secured to the wall of the keg by welding.

The word “primarily” is used hereinbefore because of the possibilitythat the invention be could utilised in a necked keg although notoriginally devised therefore.

Further features of the invention will be apparent from the followingdescription and are defined in the accompanying claims.

Turning now to the accompanying drawings, various embodiments of theinvention are described;

FIG. 1 illustrates a first embodiment in the closed or storage position.

FIG. 2 shows the same in a dispensing position;

FIG. 3 shows the same inverted when in use in keg filling; and in an adifferent degree of opening

FIG. 4 is an exploded view on a reduced scale showing the parts of thefirst embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a component used in the arrangement of FIGS.1-4;

FIGS. 6-10 show consecutive operations of four tools in assembling thespear of the invention;

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but on a reduced scale, showing amodified spear;

FIG. 12-16 are scrap views of parts shown in FIG. 11 showing arrangementof the parts, is FIG. 12 is an elevation of the parts shown in FIG. 13;

FIG. 17 is a view similar to FIG. 11 but showing a further modificationand

FIGS. 18-21 are scrap views showing further details of the FIG. 17arrangement;

Finally FIG. 22 shows yet another embodiment.

Turning first to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-10, the end wall of thekeg is illustrated by the referenced numeral 10 and the spear is fixedto the keg for example by a ring of welding 12 on the exterior.Alternatively the weld could be on the interior.

The spear assembly is now discussed with reference to FIG. 4 and is seento comprise a body 20 including a cup shaped part 22 with aperture 24 inits base. The body is provided with a plurality of generally radial flowpaths 26 and preferably the cup 22 is connected to the remainder of thebody by a small number for example three bars 28 so that the whole ofthe periphery at that point between the bars provides outlet aperturesfrom the flow passages 26.

Spear tube 30 is of a length such that when assembled as in FIG. 1 thetube end 32 is near to the end of the keg opposite and remote from thewall 10.

Spear tube 30 includes a shoulder 34 and a short portion of the upperend, as illustrated, at 36 is of a larger diameter than the generallength of the spear tube. Circlip (RTM) 38 is a free sliding fit on thesmaller diameter portion 40 and the spear tube is dimensioned to engagein recess 42 in the head part 44. O ring 46 is to locate in internalgroove 38 in the part 44. Poppet valve 50 is of nitrile rubber, EPDM orsimilar resilient and flexible material in this case moulded about adisc 51 which is of larger diameter than the internal neck 52 in thecomponent 44. The part 44 has a shoulder 47 to contact the insert 56.The shoulder serves to positively retain the spear tube assemblyincluding part 44 in the body at all times, after assembly.

Annular valve member 54 is a suitable profile to seat in insert 56, thiscomponent is also shown in FIG. 5 which illustrates the straight edge 56a extending secant-wise of the periphery. This also forms an endabutment for a second coil spring 58. The first coil spring, acting onthe poppet valve 50, is indicated by reference numeral 60.

It is now possible to consider assembly. It will be seen that the speartube 40 can be assembled to the spear head 44 by means of the circlip38, after first locating the poppet valve 50 in the position illustratedin FIG. 1 together with the poppet valve spring 60. FIG. 1 illustrates astiffener or reinforcement disc 51 in the poppet valve 50 in the form ofan annulus of greater diameter than the neck or throat 52, to the sameend.

The assembly may continue with the location of the spring 58 within thecup 22, this being inserted in the direction of the arrow A, FIG. 1. Thespear assembly comprising components 30 and 44 with the mentionedassembled parts can likewise be positioned generally, even if notprecisely, as illustrated.

Turning now to FIG. 6, the next step in assembly is illustrated with theinsert 56 which forms the support for the annular valve member 54 tiltedin a plane out of the normal to the axis of the spear tube and with thesecant edge disposed so as to extend along the steepest angle, theinsert being supported on a complementary bevelled face of a firstforming tool 60. The tool 60 is displaced along the axis in thedirection of the arrow B in FIG. 6 (which is the same as the arrow A inFIG. 1) so as to locate the insert 56 on the upper end of the spring 58and compress the spring as the insert is moved through the throat 62which is the minimum diameter opening in the upper part of the body 20.When the highest end of the insert is past that aperture, and before thespring binds, the second forming tool 64 (FIG. 7) is displaced in thedirection of the arrow C (the same as arrow A and B) to move the insert56 into a plane normal to the spear axis.

FIG. 8 shows the tools 60, 64 being displaced in the counter direction Dto allow the spring 58 to displace the insert 56 when it will abutagainst the surface 66 immediately below the aperture 62 (FIG. 4). Theinsert is then trapped in position as it can only pass through theaperture when appropriately inclined (and even then only in a particularangular orientation to the plane of inclination).

FIG. 9 shows the next stage in assembly when a third tool 68 is movedinto the position shown and an inner part 70 is displaced so that a head72 on that part contacts the poppet valve and in further movement of thepart 70 in the direction of the arrow E which is the same as the arrowsA, B and C, compresses the spring 60. At this time the lower end of thespear tube 40 may be resting on the bottom of the keg. Surrounding thestem of the part 70 is a generally annular block of rubber or similarcompressible and resilient material, illustrated in FIG. 10 with thereference 74, and occupying the space (left empty for clarity, andindicated by the reference 76 in FIG. 9). The retraction of the part 70by movement in the direction of the arrow F in FIG. 9 whilst the part 68is held in position, causes the rubber block to deform and swell outradially so as to occupy the poppet valve seat, i.e., the narrowingspace 76 located towards the top of the head part 44 (see FIG. 4) andthus fix the part 44 to the tool s 68, 70. This enables those tools tobe moved axially in the direction of the arrow F and draw the part 44from the position shown in FIG. 8 to that shown in FIG. 9, where theupper extremity of the part 44 has been moved from a position below theinstalled insert 56 in FIG. 8 to a position above that installed insert.

FIG. 10 illustrates the completion of the assembly after the fourth toolpart 80 has been displaced in direction of the arrow E in FIG. 9 to takethe annular valve washer 54 from the position illustrated in Figure tothe position illustrated in FIG. 10 which is the same as that shown inFIG. 1. The resilience and deformability of the washer has been used toenable it to expand over the flared portion 82 of the tool part 68 andsnap into its final position. As seen the washer 54 includes a generallyplanar or radially extending portion 84 with a smaller diameter tubularextension 86 on the lower side and a relatively shallow, larger diameterbut axially shorter projection 88 on its upper side. Portion 86 entersthe complementary skirt like portion of the insert 56, the portion 84seats on the radial flange of the insert 56 and the portion 88 lieswithin the throat or aperture 62 mentioned in the body 20.

It will be seen that after first welding the body to the keg, all of theother assembly operations can be conducted from the exterior. it willalso be seen that once so assembled, with the possible exception of useof tools very much as illustrated in FIGS. 7-10, the parts are thenpermanently assembled. The poppet valve 50 cannot escape through thethroat 52 (FIG. 4) because it is of too large diameter and the insert 51moulded therein prevents deformation to an extent which would make suchmovement possible. The spear tube itself over the portion 36 is oflarger diameter than the throat 52 so that its movement in the directionof arrow F in FIG. 9 is also an impossibility. The shoulder 34 on thespear tube per se also prevents movement of the part 30 relative to thepart 44, and the insert 56 positively retains the spring 58 in the body20 at all times.

The part 44 which is effectively the head of the spear assembly may belarger in diameter than the interior of the insert 76 and hence be heldin position against any possible escape by that fact. However additionalmeans for anchoring part 44 or its equivalent in the body 20 or itsequivalent are illustrated in connection with the modificationsdescribed later herein.

Turning first to FIGS. 11-6 the modified arrangement here is generallysimilar to that shown in FIG. 1-10 with a number of exceptions as nowdescribed.

Firstly, the base of the cup 22 of the body, as shown in FIG. 15, isformed with a number, in this case 3, equispaced radial slots 124. Thecomponent 44 is formed with a like number of equispaced lugs 144. Bythese means, when the spear is mounted within the body, the lugs andslots are aligned so as to enable the lugs to pass from the interior ofthe cup (above the base) to the illustrated position in FIG. 11 (belowthe base) and then the component 44 is turned angularly for example by60 degrees in either direction so as to take the lugs and slots out ofalignment and hence retain the part 44 against any possible reverse butsolely axial movement in the direction of the arrow G FIG. 11.

In order to retain it in such a position and prevent angular movementwhich might take the lugs and slots back into alignment, the component44 has three equispaced axially extending slots 146 and a locking washerFIGS. 12, 13 is employed dimensioned to be a sliding fit on thecomponent 44 with lugs 148 extending radially inwardly to engage inthose slots. The lugs also extend axially as shown in FIG. 12. Hence,the washer of FIGS. 12 and 13 may be positioned upon the part 44 beforeit is inserted through the cup, and after the angular shift which takesthe lugs 144 away from the slots 124, the same shift will bring 148 intothe same slots. The necessary axial movement to take the lugs 148through the slots 124 as illustrated in FIG. 11 is followed by seatingof the spring 58, before the same is compressed, and when it is loadedit serves to maintain the parts in position.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 17-21 provides a more alternative andsimplified arrangement for the same purposes. In this embodiment thespring 58 is provided with an axially extending tang 158 at its lowerend which may engage in an axially extending groove 160 on the outersurface of the part 44 and also through a complementary radial slot inthe base of the cup locking the parts together. The same arrangement oflugs 144 and recesses 124 may be provided. Hence the assembly step inthis arrangement is to pass the spear tube 40 through the base of thecup, align the lugs 144 on the exterior of the part 44 with the slots124 until they have passed through the base of the cup, turn the part 44angularly until the slot 160 is aligned with one of the slots 124, andthen assemble the spring so that the tang passes through and locks thepart angularly.

In the modification shown in FIG. 22 the poppet valve spring 160 isfrustoconical and extends into an annular recess in the poppet valve 150per se and contacts the margin of the disc like reinforcement 152therein.

In this case there is also a small modification to the way in which thespear tube 140 is held to the spear head part 44 by crimping lugs or aflange 162 over a radial extension 164 at the end of the spear tube.

Those skilled in the art will recognise the possibility of providingsimple and large cross-sectional area flow paths through the assembledspears of the invention, which it is believed offer the possibility ofsubstantially faster filling of kegs, as compared to conventional spearscurrently in use. This means that if a keg-filling plant has a nominalrequirement of a certain number of kegs per working shift, whichrequires another certain number of filling stations because of the timerequired for each filling operation, then with use of the spears madeaccording to the present invention, only a smaller number of fillingstations will be needed.

What is claimed is:
 1. A spear for mounting to a neckless keg openingcomprising: a body adapted to be permanently secured at said keg openingto the neckless keg as by welding said body including a throat definedby an upper part of said body and a valve seat body portion; a speartube with an axial flow passage formed in said spear tube, said speartube movably spring mounted to said body with one spear tube endsubstantially within said neckless keg and the other spear tube endwithin said body for communicating flow from within said neckless keg,through said axial flow passage, to said throat; a first valve,including a spring, mounted within the other spear tube end, forcontrolling flow through said tube; a radially outwardly located flowpassage in said body communicating flow from the throat to within theneckless keg; and a second valve, mounted between said other spear tubeend and said body and within said radially outwardly located flowpassage, and cooperating with said valve seat body portion forcontrolling flow through said radially outwardly located passage; saidsecond valve including stop means for preventing movement of said speartube through the throat of said body, when said body is secured to theneckless keg.
 2. A spear as claimed in claim 1, wherein said other speartube end includes a spear head with said axial flow passage definedtherein, said spear head having a first valve seat cooperating with saidfirst valve, said first valve formed of a resilient and deformablematerial enveloping completely a relatively rigid reinforcement annuluswhich is of greater dimension than said first valve seat to prevent saidfirst valve from being spring driven through said first valve seat.
 3. Aspear as claimed in claim 2, wherein said spear head includes a shoulderportion, and said stop means includes an insert with a lower insertportion engageably contacting said shoulder portion and an upper insertportion adapted to support said second valve.
 4. A spear as claimed inclaim 1, including a clip mounting said spear tube to said spear head.5. A spear as claimed in claim 1, wherein said spear tube is fixed tosaid spear head by crimping.
 6. A spear as claimed in claim 2, whereinsaid body includes a lower cup portion having a base with a centralaperture adapted to receive said spear head, said base at said apertureand said spear head having respective radial slots and radial lugs whichwhen registered enable movement of the spear head to an assembledposition from a position external to the keg, and after a relativeangular movement prevent withdrawal therefrom and hence preventpressurized ejection therefrom.
 7. A spear as claimed in claim 6,wherein said spear head further includes an axially extending groovealigned with said central aperture, and a second spring surrounding saidspear head and intermediate said base and said second valve, said secondspring having a tail tang extending in said groove and in a matchingradial recess in said base so as to angularly lock said spear.
 8. Aspear as claimed in claim 3, said insert being of larger diameter thansaid valve seat body portion over a major portion of its periphery andhaving a second edge to provide a dimension diametric of the insert atone point which is smaller than the comparable dimension of said valveseat body portion to enable said insert to pass from one side of saidseat to the other when cocked at an angle to its eventual plane oflocation.